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Coast & Geodetic Survey Ships Photo Archive

USAT Atkins (FS 237)
ex-USC&GS Explorer



Call sign (1919):
George - Vice - Watch - Jig

Call sign (1924):
Nan - Able - Vice - Mike

Call sign (1933):
William - Tare - Easy - Dog

ex-USS Explorer
ex-USC&GS Explorer

Explorer served the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, the U. S. Navy and the U.S. Army

Patrol/Survey Vessel:

  • Built in 1904 as USC&GS Explorer by Pusey and Jones, Wilmington, DE for the Coast and Geodetic Survey
  • Acquired by the Navy 22 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Explorer 3 June 1918
  • Struck from the Navy Register 31 March 1919 and returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey
  • Transferred to the National Youth Authority in 1939
  • Acquired by the U.S. Army in 1942 as renamed USAT Atkins (FS 237)
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 450 t.
  • Length 135'
  • Beam 27'
  • Draft 10'
  • Speed 10.3 kts.
  • Complement 49
    1919 - 50
  • Armament: Two 6-pounders
  • Propulsion: One 400ihp steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USC&GS Explorer
    Explorer 91k NOAA Office of NOAA Corps Operations NOAA Website
    Explorer 245k Mike VanPelt
    Explorer 405k
    Explorer 79k NOAA photos ship0197, theb0116, theb0121, ship3934, and theb3935 from Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection Robert Hurst
    Explorer 82k
    Explorer 125k
    Explorer 99k
    Explorer 145k
    Explorer 91k c. 1921
    Southeast Alaska
    C&GS Season's Report Heck 1921-43    		 NOAA Website
    Explorer 115k c. 1927
    Off the Alaskan coast
    Photo Credit Family of Rear Admiral Paul A. Smith, C&GS
    NOAA photo theb0111 from NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection    		 Robert Hurst
    Explorer 92k c. 1931
    Southern Alaska
    Photo Credit C&GS Season's Report Eickelberg 1931-14
    NOAA photo theb0107 from NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection
    Explorer 117k c. 1931
    Rudyerd Bay, Southeast Alaska
    Photo Credit C&GS Season's Report Eickelberg 1931-222
    NOAA photo theb0112 from NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection
    Explorer 113k c. 1934
    Alaska
    Photo Credit Family of Captain John Ellerbee, C&GS
    NOAA photo theb3199 from NOAA's Fleet Then and Now - Sailing for Science Collection
    USAT Atkins
    Explorer 165k Atkins, lost some of her yacht-like features during conversion in 1941 and took on more the look of a working vessel. The Corps of Engineers used her in survey work
    Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society photo from "U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II" by David H. Grover    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT William H. Stanford, USNRF3 June 1918
    02CAPT Joseph R. Besse, USCG1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Explorer
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Coast & Geodetic Survey Ships Photo Index Back to the U.S. Army Freight and Supply Vessels Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
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